Bipartisan bills introduced in Congress over the past week aim to strengthen safety requirements for rail carriers hauling hazardous materials, but the group representing the nation’s freight rail companies says the industry is in its “safest era ever.”
U.S. Sen. John Fetterman, D-Braddock, cosponsored the Senate version of the Railway Safety Act of 2026 introduced last week, while U.S. Rep. Chris Deluzio, D-Fox Chapel, introduced an identical House version on Monday. Both say the legislation is needed to reduce the chance of a derailment like the one that happened in East Palestine, Ohio, in February 2023.
“Three years is a long time to wait for change,” said Deluzio, who introduced the House bill with U.S. Reps. John Garamendi, D-Calif., Nick LaLota, R-N.Y., and Michael Rulli, R-Ohio.
“It’s time to hold to hold big, corporate railroads accountable and make life safer for people that work and live along the tracks. It’s taken too long, but it’s never too late to do something good,” added Deluzio, whose congressional district includes portions of Beaver County along the Ohio border that were impacted by the derailment and subsequent controlled burn of chemicals that Norfolk Southern had been hauling.
Thousands of people were evacuated from their homes after the derailment, and Norfolk Southern has estimated that total costs related to the derailment surpassed $2 billion.
Fetterman called the derailment a “complete tragedy and something that could have been prevented.”
In a statement Tuesday, the Association of American Railroads, which represents freight rail companies, did not specifically address the House and Senate bills. It said freight railroads are already the “safest way to move goods over land.”
“Freight railroads continue to advance safety through sustained investment in the core network, deployment of proven and emerging technologies, and rigorous operating standards. Because of this, railroads are in the midst of their safest era ever and remain the safest way to move goods over land,” said Ted Greener, vice president of communications for the association.
“As Congress considers any rail safety legislation, policymakers should reject backwards-looking, one-size-fits-all mandates that undermine competition and raise prices for consumers, and instead ensure each provision is objectively grounded in data to reduce risk,” Greener added. “The priority should be policies that encourage innovation and measurable safety outcomes without disrupting the supply chain or diverting resources from proven, safety-critical investments.”
Fetterman also was an original cosponsor of a nearly identical rail safety bill in 2023. Other original cosponsors included former Republican U.S. Sens. JD Vance of Ohio, now the vice president, and Marco Rubio of Florida, now secretary of state. Deluzio also introduced a similar rail safety bill last year.
Deluzio’s previous bill never made it out of committee. The previous Senate bill did, but it didn’t come up for a vote by the whole chamber.
The latest Senate bill was referred to that chamber’s Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, which is chaired by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. Fetterman sits on that committee.
The House bill was referred to that chamber’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, chaired by U.S. Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo. Deluzio is on the committee.
The bills would require the use of defect detection technology to make railroads stop trains when something is wrong.
The National Transportation Safety Board determined the East Palestine derailment was caused by a defective wheel bearing on a rail car that failed and overheated.
“Hot bearing detectors are part of a system intended to warn crews to stop the train before the hot bearing can cause a derailment,” the NTSB said in its ruling. “The (Norfolk Southern) crew did not receive a hot bearing warning until the train passed over a detector in East Palestine, when the overheated bearing was about to cause its axle to fail. The crew began to slow the train using dynamic braking, but it was too late.”
The bills would require hotbox detectors to be placed at least every 15 miles, compared to the current requirement of every 25 miles.
The bills also would:
- Expand the list of hazardous materials that are subject to higher safety standards.
- Notify states about the hazardous materials that rail companies are hauling through their communities and strengthen emergency response plans.
- Require more thorough rail car inspections.
- Increase civil penalties for rail safety law violations, from $100,000 to $10 million.
- Require two crew members to operate a train.
- Enable the Transportation Department to reimburse first responders for overtime, equipment costs and health care assessments.
- Expand hazardous materials emergency preparedness grants to allow fire departments to buy personal protective gear.